


A Friendly Face

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Het, Meet-Cute, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:05:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Ellie meets a handsome stranger.





	A Friendly Face

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a comment fic prompt that was filled before I could post this, “their meet cute is over a lost wallet”

“Excuse me, Miss?” 

Ellie looked up from her book and the thought that came immediately into her mind was that she was glad that none of the very delicious apple pie that was half finished on her plate was in her mouth. She was pretty sure she would have choked on it and it was a shame to waste pie that good. 

Embarrassing herself in front of the man who’d spoken to her, a man who might just be the most attractive person she’d ever seen in real life, wouldn’t have been good either. 

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” the man continued, “but I was eating here earlier a little, sitting right where you are and I can’t find my wallet... I know I had it when I paid, I’m just wondering if it fell out of my pocket when I left...”

Ellie looked around her. “I don’t see anything,” she said and the man frowned, ran a hand over his face as he muttered something unintelligible. Ellie gave him a sympathetic smile before an idea occurred to her and she shifted on her seat slightly, sliding across the booth so that she could run her hand in between the join where the seat back met the seat rest. Her fingers touched something and, with a frown and a twist of her fingers, she pulled out a dark brown leather wallet. 

She held it up to the man, all ready to ask him if it was his but the look on his face rendered the question redundant. His dark eyes were wide, his jaw slack as he heaved a huge sigh of evident relief. “I think I love you,” he declared and there was no reason at all for Ellie’s heart to skip a beat. 

And when she held it out to the man, when her fingers brushed against his, there was no reason for the electric current that ran up and down her spine. 

He felt it too, she knew he did from the way his eyes widened and he stared down at her. Ellie knew her eyes were equally as wide but she managed to summon up her voice, to not stumble over her words as she said, “You should probably check it...”

The man nodded but still seemed a trifle shell shocked as he opened up the wallet. “All here,” he said as he glanced through it. “Not that there’s much cash... but the thought of cancelling all my cards, you know?” Ellie nodded as he closed the wallet, slipped it into his back pocket. 

Then he looked at her and blinked, like he was seeing her for the first time. 

Then he smiled. 

Ellie was a pretty serious person, not one given to flights of fancy and hyperbolic clichés. But in that moment, she understood what romance novelists meant when they said that it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. 

“I’m Nick,” he said, holding out his hand. 

“Ellie,” she replied, taking it and closing her fingers around his. There was no jolt of electricity this time but his grip was firm and strong, his eyes steady on hers making a shiver run down her spine. 

“Ellie.” His lips twitched as he said her name. “It’s nice to meet you.” His gaze dropped to the table, the single plate there, and he lifted one eyebrow. “If you’re not waiting for someone, do you mind if I join you? I’m new to the city... and it’s nice to find a friendly face.” 

Ellie felt a smile, as well as a blush, coming to her face. “I’m new here too,” she said, gesturing to the vacant side of the booth. “I start a new job tomorrow, so...”

“Yeah?” He slid into the booth across from her, rested his arms on the table and tilted his head. His dark eyes stayed steady on hers and for a woman who didn’t open up to many people, she found herself telling him all about her new job. Which lead to him telling her about his new job, which lead to them swapping house hunting horror stories and then on to all manner of tales about their lives until Ellie looked at her watch and found that over an hour had passed. 

She didn’t stand up to leave.

But when she did, he’d paid for her meal - a thank you he’d insisted on, over her strong protests - and her number was stored in his phone, his number in hers, and they had plans to meet the next night for dinner. 

So when her hand closed over the last copy of a very hard to find NSA document and the admittedly cute NSA lawyer asked her out for dinner, she was honestly able to say that she had plans. 

And that night when Nick’s hand closed over hers, she didn’t regret a thing.


End file.
